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Results for “Runaway Behavior”

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PubMed1991

Problems of maltreated runaway youth.

Research has shown that physical and sexual maltreatment precipitate runaway behavior in adolescents. However, there have been few large-scale examinations of the family, school, and personal problems of maltreated adolescents. In the present paper, an 85-item Client Information Record was completed on 2,019 runaways by shelter staff from eight southeastern states. There were significant differences in the problems reported by physically abused and sexually abused runaways when compared to their nonabused runaway peers. Runaways who were both physically and sexually maltreated were significantly more vulnerable and much worse off than those who only experienced either physical or sexual abuse. Implications for the treatment of maltreated runaways are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1986

Runaway youths and sexual victimization: gender differences in an adolescent runaway population.

Running away from home has often been viewed as one of the sequelae to sexual abuse. Our study of 144 adolescent runaways finds that 38% of male runaways (n = 89) and 73% of female runaways (n = 55) report having been sexually abused. The impact of abuse is examined by studying, within each gender group, its relationship to the subject's perceptions of sexual activity, relationships with peers and adults, involvement with delinquent/criminal activities, and physical and emotional complaints. The results of assessing the differences between abused and nonabused adolescents show that both the victimized males and females are more likely to report anxiety and suicidal feelings than are their nonabused counterparts. Male victims of sexual abuse are more likely to report physical symptomatology and fear of adult men. Female victims of sexual abuse are more likely to be confused about sex and to engage in delinquent/criminal activities. Discussion focuses on gender differences and runaway behaviors in relation to sexual victimization with the suggestion that differences in the degree of abuse and the sex of the abuser may explain study findings.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

Psychosocial aspects of Mexican-American, white, and black teenage pregnancy.

This study assesses whether pregnant Mexican-American adolescents have psychosocial characteristics different from their pregnant white or black peers. The study population consisted of 199 consecutive Mexican-American, white, and black pregnant adolescents, ages 11-19 years, followed prospectively at the University of California San Diego Medical Center Teen Obstetric Clinic from 1978 to 1981 (79 whites, 76 Mexican-Americans, and 44 blacks). Although all three groups had the same chronologic age (X = 16.4 +/- 1.4 years), and the same number of years of schooling, pregnant black adolescents were more likely to be in school at the time of registration for prenatal care (p less than 0.01). Mexican-American teens were more likely to be married at conception and/or delivery (p less than 0.001), and to breastfeed their infants (p less than 0.05). The fathers of the Mexican-American babies were more likely than other fathers to be full-time students or employed (p less than 0.001). Although pregnant Mexican-American teens came from the largest families (p less than 0.001), black teenagers most frequently reported a good mother-daughter relationship (p less than 0.05). White pregnant teens most frequently reported a family history of psychiatric illness (p less than 0.01), parental death (p less than 0.05), or runaway behavior (p less than 0.01). These data suggest that pregnant teenagers from these three racial/ethnic backgrounds have different psychosocial profiles and hence different psychosocial problems and needs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

The "process" of running away: a redefinition.

Unlike much of the research on runaway behavior in the last half decade, the present effort does not use legal definitions or individual motives to define a runaway. Rather, it views the designation as a "social process." The concept of "career" is central to this effort in that it allows for an identification of where in the overall process young persons see themselves. In general, becoming a runaway is conceived as a process of action and reaction, which unfolds over time. Becoming a runaway is the end product of a person's actions, reason, and symbols.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

The relationship between adolescent life stress events and delinquent conduct including conduct indicating a need for supervision.

Yeaworth, York, Hussey, Ingle, and Goodwin's (1980) Adolescent Life Change Event Scale was administered to 55 adolescents who were on probation or being held in detention for offenses ranging from a felony to conduct indicating a need for supervision (Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, 1983). The offenses committed during the previous 12 months were given weights, and weights obtained by Yeaworth (1980) were used for stress events experienced in the last 12 months. Pearson product moment correlation was computed to obtain a relationship between stress events and offenses. The results suggest that these adolescents are more stressed than nondelinquent adolescents when compared to the Yeaworth (1980) study. Nearly 82 percent of subjects in the present study had experienced the event of "failing one or more subjects in school." The correlation coefficient obtained relating stress events to offenses was -0.01727. The results were interpreted to mean that there is no relationship between total amount of stress experienced and total offenses committed. However, some patterns were found in runaway behavior and truancy that were related to several of the stress events; 87.5 percent of runaway subjects had experienced "hassling with parents," and 43.8 percent had experienced a "family member other than yourself having trouble with alcohol"; 94.1 percent of truancy subjects had experienced "failing one or more subjects in school," and 64.7 percent had experienced "getting into drugs or alcohol."

Acting Out↗

PubMed1988

Sexual abuse: somatic and emotional reactions.

A chart review and telephone interview of 72 sexual abuse victims was conducted to determine if children and adolescents who are victims of sexual abuse suffer from symptoms similar to the "rape trauma syndrome," which has been reported in adults. Symptoms similar to the rape trauma syndrome were found in 48 of the 72 abused children and only 26 of the matched control group, p less than .01. Common somatic complaints in the sexual abuse patients included dysuria, vaginal discharge and chronic abdominal pain. Some of the emotional and behavioral problems noted during the follow-up period among the sexual abuse patients included sleep problems, runaway behavior, and suicide attempts. The duration of abuse and age of the victim at the time of abuse significantly affected the frequency of reported somatic symptoms, but the type of abuse and type of assailant did not significantly affect the frequency of reported somatic and emotional reactions. There was no difference in the occurrence of school problems and early pregnancy between sexually abused patients and controls. Since 67% of all sexually abused patients suffered from emotional and somatic reactions, close follow-up of these patients is indicated.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

Identifying adolescent runaways: the predictive utility of the personality inventory for children.

This study investigated whether runaway behavior could be related to six problematic areas. Selected scales of the Personality Inventory for Children, representative of the six areas, were hypothesized to discriminate between an adolescent runaway group and a control group. Four scales correctly classified 95.1% of the runaway subjects and 100% of the control subjects with a total correct classification rate of 97.52%. It was further hypothesized that the runaway group was not significantly different from a known clinical group with moderate to severe psychopathology. Results indicated that the runaway group was not significantly different except on one scale, Delinquency (DLQ). On the DLQ scale the runaway group had a significantly higher mean score than the clinical group. Application and recommendations are presented.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

Mathematical modelling of dynamics and control in metabolic networks. II. Simple dimeric enzymes.

The dynamics of enzyme cooperativity are examined by studying a homotropic dimeric enzyme with identical reaction sites, both of which follow irreversible Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The problem is approached via scaling and linearization of the governing mass action kinetic equations. Homotropic interaction between the two sites are found to depend on three dimensionless groups, two for the substrate binding step and one for the chemical transformation. The interaction between the two reaction sites is shown capable of producing dynamic behavior qualitatively different from that of a simple Michaelis-Menten system; when the two sites interact to increase enzymatic activity over that of two independent monomeric enzymes (positive cooperativity) damped oscillatory behavior is possible, and for negative cooperativity in the chemical transformation step a multiplicity of steady states can occur, with one state unstable and leading to runaway behavior. Linear analysis gives significant insight into system dynamics, and their parametric sensitivity, and a way to identify regions of the parameter space where the approximate quasi-stationary and quasi-equilibrium analyses are appropriate.

Allosteric Regulation↗

PubMed1998

Searching for connection: a new look at teenaged runaways.

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of 26 runaways in a rural New England shelter. Runaway behavior was viewed from the perspective of the teenagers themselves. The findings challenge popular notions that run-aways are incorrigible delinquents who want to leave home, that the decision is impulsive, and that they hope never to return. Rather, many of the teenaged runaways left home in search of freedom from what they considered abusive treatment, whether physical, sexual, or emotional. Running away was found to be "last resort" behavior-teenagers' accounts yielded evidence that they struggled with the decision to run away. Nor was running away necessarily an irreparable break with family; many youths expressed the desire for reconciliation. Thus, running away was revealed to be a dynamic emotional experience for youths, which reflected changes in their social bonds with family, peers, and adults in the educational, legal, and medical systems.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Emotional disturbance and substance abuse in youth placed in residential group homes.

Residential group homes are increasingly important components of the system of mental health care for children and adolescents. However, they often do not have sufficient resources to provide active therapeutic programs as a result of their usual missions in serving abandoned or runaway youth. The authors studied 299 youth, ages 12 to 17 years, in five large residential group home programs in South Carolina. The instruments administered were (1) the Center for Epidemiological Survey-Depression Scale (CES-D), (2) a brief substance abuse questionnaire, and (3) questions about socioeconomic status, previous placements, and family relationship variables. A significant percentage scored above conservative clinical cut-off scores for the CES-D (51.7% scored 16 or above and 33.6% scored 23 or above). The youth also had significant levels of substance abuse problems. However, these variables were not predictive of previous multiple out-of-home placements (runaway behavior was predictive). These findings support the importance of addressing the clinical needs of youth in these programs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

Behavioral sequelae of physical and/or sexual abuse in adolescents.

In a survey of 500 admissions to a short-term residential chemical dependency treatment center for adolescents (ages 12 to 18), 150 adolescents (30%) had been identified as victims of physical and/or sexual abuse. While the abused group had a higher incidence of prior social service and mental health intervention, extraordinarily 68% of these abuse cases had not been reported by children, family, or interviewers prior to the adolescents having entered the chemical dependency residential treatment facility. This chemically dependent, previously abused group was differentiated from a comparison group of nonabused, chemically dependent adolescents, and a second comparison group of nonabused, nonchemically dependent adolescents. Results indicated a higher incidence of acting out behavior, runaways, legal involvement and sexual promiscuity within the abused group.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A collaborative model for community-based health care screening of homeless adolescents.

Because of their survival life-style, homeless youth are at extremely high risk for contracting life-threatening and debilitating diseases, such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and hepatitis B, and for engaging in chronic substance abuse; yet health services are often limited and not easily accessed. This article describes an innovative health-screening project for 150 homeless youth between the ages of 11 and 23 years in an urban metroplex. The Homeless Youth Services Project was the initial phase of a multiphase project to investigate the social and health services available to homeless youth. The study project was a collaborative effort between several community agencies that shared the multiple goals of identifying the homeless adolescent population, documenting the rate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroprevalence and level of risk, and identifying community services and resources. Results of the screening project included the psychosocial and physical risks associated with homeless adolescents as well as the laboratory results of blood and urine screens. Consistent with the literature, the study population had a history of runaway behavior; physical, sexual, and substance abuse; and high rates of HIV seroprevalence and hepatitis B. Implications for advanced practice nurses working with homeless youth are also addressed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

The health beliefs, values, and practices of gay adolescents.

Barriers to optimal health in the gay adolescent population include a lack of recognition or acceptance by healthcare providers, homophobic attitudes, and an absence of awareness regarding the healthcare needs of this vulnerable population. The literature suggests that gay youths experience such problems as lack of self-esteem, school truancy and dropout, runaway behavior and subsequent homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases, depression, and suicide. Advanced practice nurses have the opportunity to improve the health of gay youths through recognition, education, outreach, and advocacy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1986

Methylation-dependent transcription controls plasmid replication of the CloDF13 cop-1(Ts) mutant.

The CloDF13 cop-1(Ts) mutant expresses a temperature-dependent plasmid copy number. At 42 degrees C the mutant shows a "runaway" behavior, and cells harboring this plasmid are killed. The cop-1(Ts) mutation is a G-to-A transition that disturbs one of the two methylation sites which are located opposite in the stem-loop structure within a region involved in both the initiation of primer synthesis for DNA replication and the termination of the cloacin operon transcript. We demonstrate that the mutation results in an increased primer (RNA II) synthesis resulting from nonconditional enhanced RNA II promoter activity, which at 42 degrees C causes a decrease in the amount of active replication repressor molecules (RNA I) synthesized from the opposite strand. We found that the absence of Dam methylation abolishes the mutant phenotype and that under this condition the high mutant level of RNA II synthesis is reduced, which is accompanied by a restoration of the regulation by RNA I. The role of methylation in the regulation of plasmid replication is discussed.

Cloacin↗

PubMed1989

Child sexual abuse and adolescent prostitution: a comparative analysis.

In several studies, child sexual abuse has been identified as a characteristic of adolescent prostitution. The implication of these findings, especially for girls, is that the two phenomena are related in that childhood sexual abuse perhaps leads to prostitution. The present study explored the relationship between sexual abuse and adolescent prostitution by comparing 70 sexually abused children with 35 prostitution-involved children on 22 variables. Findings suggest that the relationship is not directed, but involves runaway behavior as an intervening variable. It is not so much that sexual abuse leads to prostitution as it is that running away leads to prostitution. Implications for treatment of both sexually abused and prostitution-involved children also are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

A measurement of delinquency differences between a delinquent and nondelinquent sample: what are the implications?

The present study compared 532 adolescents being detained by country juvenile authorities to 354 adolescents attending public school in reference to the volume of delinquent activity committed for a period of one year prior to the survey. Four levels of delinquent activity were developed, ranging from minor offenses such as runaway behavior to serious offenses such as assault. Participants were also compared on how they responded to several Likert-type questions that measured factors associated with the inclination to commit delinquent acts (anomie, social bonding, delinquent peer association, labeling, and self-esteem). This comparison provided information on the multiple pathways to delinquency which suggested forms of intervention.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Sexual risk behaviors, AIDS knowledge, and beliefs about AIDS among runaways.

Sexual risk behaviors, knowledge of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and beliefs about AIDS prevention were examined among 126 runaways. In the previous 3 months, 65 percent of youths had been sexually active. Among the sexually active runaways, males reported a median of 2.7 partners and females reported 1.3 partners, and only 18 percent reported consistent condom use. Runaways demonstrated moderately high AIDS knowledge and beliefs endorsing AIDS prevention. Condom use and abstinence were directly related to beliefs about preventing AIDS.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMed1996

Sexual abuse history and associated multiple risk behavior in adolescent runaways.

Relationships between sexual abuse and sexual risk, substance use, emotional distress, and conduct problems were examined among 190 runaways. Those who had been abused were significantly more likely than nonabused peers to engage in unprotected sex, have more sexual partners, and use alcohol and drugs, but did not differ in emotional distress. Those abused after age 13 were more often engaged in sex work than nonabused peers. Males abused before age 13 had more sexual partners than those not abused, and runaway males were significantly more likely to have been sexually abused than has been reported in prior research.

Adolescent↗